Chinese shares sink 0.94 pct on profit-taking

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares fell 0.94 percent Wednesday on profit-taking, erasing Tuesday's gains. The decline also followed an overnight drop on Wall Street.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.94 percent, or 25.27 points, to 2,651.41.

The Shenzhen Component Index slid 0.53 percent, or 55.22 points, to 10,369.14.

Combined turnover contracted to 214.60 billion yuan (31.56 billion U.S. dollars) from 227.97 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

New energy firms gained for much of the day on talk that the government would unveil a support plan for the sector Thursday.

Donghua Energy, the Zhangjiagang-based liquefied oil storage company, rose 6.06 percent to 8.75 yuan. Shenzhen Topray Solar, a major solar consumer products manufacturer, gained 2.62 percent to 28.57 yuan.

However, new energy stocks were dragged down by profit-taking just 15 minutes before the markets closed, dealers said.

Airlines were broadly lower as the wholesale price of jet fuel rose 460 yuan to 4,450 yuan per ton as of Tuesday led by continuously rising crude oil prices.

Air China, the country's largest carrier, fell 1.38 percent to 6.41 yuan. China Southern Airlines retreated 2.38 percent to 5.34 yuan.

The State Council (cabinet) said Tuesday that the government would increase subsidies for consumers who replaced old models of vehicles and home appliances with new ones, as part of the effort to spur domestic spending and curb pollution.

Jinbei Vehicle Manufacturing, a major light truck maker, rose by the daily limit of 10 percent to 4.09 yuan. Dongfeng Motor climbed 3.70 percent to 5.05 yuan.

Suning Appliance, a giant consumer appliance retailer, edged up 0.07 percent to 15.16 yuan.

Despite the declines, the market still had the fundamental conditions for gains as the government continued to announce new measures to boost consumption, Chengdu-based Beising Investment said in a report to clients.

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China's producer prices down 6.6 pct in April

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price
index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 6.6
percent in April year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Monday.

The decline compared with a 6.0-percent drop in March and 4.6-percent fall in the first quarter from the same period last year.

Prices of production materials fell 8.1 percent in April year on year, the NBS said in a statement.

The PPI for January-April fell 5.1 percent over the same period last year, it said.

The NBS also announced the consumer price index for April was down 1.5 percent year on year and 0.2 percent month on month.

Wall Street declines, led by financials, technology stocks

NEW YORK, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street capped lower Thursday, as a drop in telephone and technology companies and weak financials weighed on the big board.

ATT Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. tumbled after JPMorgan Chase Co. downgraded the shares on concerns on slowing subscriber growth.

Moreover, Symantec Corp., the biggest marker of security software, fell sharply, as the company forecast sales below Wall Street expectation.

Financials also got hammered, as investors preferred some profit-taking before the formal release of the government's stress tests of banks due at 5:00 p.m. Thursday. The report is expected to reveal which banks will need to raise capital.

The decline of technology stocks and financials overshadowed better-than-expected jobless data. The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 601,000 from the previous week's 631,000. Economists had been expecting a jump to 635,000.

The failure of a government bond auction also undercut the market sentiment. Investors worried that waning demand for government debt could raise the cost of capital and hamper the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones fell 102.43, or 1.20 percent, to 8,409.85. Broader indexes also traded lower. The Standard Poor's 500 index dipped 12.14, or 1.32 percent, to 907.39; and the Nasdaq lost 42.86, or 2.44 percent, to 1,716.24.

Dollar falls amid better-than-expected job data

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell against major currencies on
Friday as risk appetite in foreign exchange trading was boosted by
better-than-expected job data.

Non-farm payroll employment declined by 539,000 in April, the U.S. Labor
Department reported on Friday. It was the smallest decline in six months, less
than a loss of 620,000 expected by analysts and far below the 699,000 drop in
March. The unemployment rate rose from 8.5 percent to 8.9 percent, the highest
since late 1983.

The report showed that the labor market was still deteriorating, but the
rate of decline was moderating, analysts said. About half of the improvement
from March came in the government sector, as it hired temporary workers for
preparatory work on the 2010 Census. The rest of the improvement was widely
spread across the private sector.

There were indications that the industry's headlong decline is bottoming
out, as the manufacturing workweek rose for the first time since July 2008, and
manufacturing overtime rose for the first time since November 2007.

Investors' risk appetite was also helped by the results of the U.S.
government's stress test, which showed better-than-expected picture of health of
major U.S. banks. The government said 10 of the 19 largest U.S. banks must raise
about 74.6 billion U.S. dollars in new capital, less than some had feared.

The euro bought 1.3622 dollars in late New York trading compared with
1.3373 dollars it bought late Thursday. The pound rose to 1.5215 dollars from
1.4996 dollars.

The dollar fell to 1.1513 Canadian dollars from 1.1740 Canadian dollars,
and fell to 1.1065 Swiss francs from 1.1309 Swiss francs. It fell to 98.40
Japanese yen from 98.99 Japanese yen.

Dollar falls on better than expected job data

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NEW YORK, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell against major currencies on Wednesday amid a better than expected report about employment in U.S. private sector.

U.S. private employers cut 491,000 jobs in April, according to the research group Automatic Data Processing (ADP). It was much smaller than a loss of 650,000 jobs expected by analysts.

The ADP report showed that job losses decelerated across all sectors and all firm sizes. Usually the ADP report would foretell the non-farm payroll data released by the U.S. Labor Department.

Nomura Economic Research revised its forecast for the decline in non-farm payroll to 575,000 from 625,000 on the news of private employment. The government's non-farm job report is due on Friday.

Employment is likely to decline for at least several more months, although perhaps not as rapidly as during the last six months, according to Joel Prakken, Chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers.

Financial stocks jumped as investors were gaining confidence on results of the "stress test" to major banks, which will be released on Thursday. It was reported that American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon would not need to raise more capital.

The euro bought 1.3348 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3313 dollars it bought late Tuesday. The pound rose to 1.5132 dollars from 1.5070 dollars.

The dollar fell to 1.1670 Canadian dollars from 1.1759 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1308 Swiss francs from 1.1343 Swiss francs. It fell to 98.32 Japanese yen from 98.98 Japanese yen.

Wall Street declines, led by financials, technology stocks

NEW YORK, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street capped lower Thursday, as a drop in telephone and technology companies and weak financials weighed on the big board.

ATT Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. tumbled after JPMorgan Chase Co. downgraded the shares on concerns on slowing subscriber growth.

Moreover, Symantec Corp., the biggest marker of security software, fell sharply, as the company forecast sales below Wall Street expectation.

Financials also got hammered, as investors preferred some profit-taking before the formal release of the government's stress tests of banks due at 5:00 p.m. Thursday. The report is expected to reveal which banks will need to raise capital.

The decline of technology stocks and financials overshadowed better-than-expected jobless data. The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 601,000 from the previous week's 631,000. Economists had been expecting a jump to 635,000.

The failure of a government bond auction also undercut the market sentiment. Investors worried that waning demand for government debt could raise the cost of capital and hamper the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones fell 102.43, or 1.20 percent, to 8,409.85. Broader indexes also traded lower. The Standard Poor's 500 index dipped 12.14, or 1.32 percent, to 907.39; and the Nasdaq lost 42.86, or 2.44 percent, to 1,716.24.

Net sales of Mexican glassmaking giant Vitro fall 34.5%

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MEXICO CITY, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Mexican glassmaking giant Vitro said in a
Monday statement that it had lost 84 million dollars in the first quarter,
compared with the 30-million-dollar profit during the first quarter of 2008.

Net sales fell 34.5 percent in the first quarter compared with the same
period of 2008, due to a weaker peso and lower volumes. Export sales fell 37.6
percent while domestic sales fell 25.5 percent.

The firm said it also lost sales due to the spin-off of container maker
Comegua. Container sales fell an annualized 37.1 percent, while glass sales fell
31.5 percent.

Even so, margins rose by 12.7 percent compared with the same period a year
earlier.

Vitro, founded in 1909, is Mexico's largest glassmaker for construction,
industrial and domestic use, and has distribution centers in 10 nations across
the Americas and in Europe.

Dollar falls on positive economic data

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NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell against major currencies on
Monday as two positive economic reports boosted risk appetite in foreign
exchange trading.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Monday that construction spending
during March 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 969.7
billion dollars, 0.3 percent above the revised February estimate. It was the
best reading since last September. Analysts had expected a 1.5 percent loss.

The Pending Home Sales Index rose in March with many first-time buyers
taking advantage of historically good housing affordability conditions, the
National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported.

The index, a forward-looking indicator for the housing sector based on
pending sales of existing homes, increased 3.2 percent to84.6 in March. A sale
is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has
not closed.

Investors are waiting for two key reports due later this week. One is the
results of the government's stress test to major banks; the other is the
non-farm employment data from the Labor Department.

The euro bought 1.3373 dollars in late New York trading compared with
1.3267 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound rose to 1.4966 dollars from
1.4916 dollars.

The dollar fell to 1.1774 Canadian dollars from 1.1840 Canadian dollars,
and fell to 1.1284 Swiss francs from 1.1356 Swiss francs. It fell to 98.87
Japanese yen from 99.35 Japanese yen.